Comic Vine Review

Age of Ultron #3 - Book Three Review

Captain America's plan is revealed and we see how the heroes are faring over in Chicago.

This review contains spoilers.

The Good

Artist Bryan Hitch continues to do a solid job throwing us into this lifeless and bleak universe face first. The blocks upon blocks of devastation and rubble overshadowed by cold technology gives this world a unique and immediately recognizable feel. Characters are a bit stiff in a few occasions but for the most part they look good as well. He really sells the detail in some of their facial expressions during the meeting and seeing the world crumble from Luke Cage's strikes is awesome. Unless you're She-Hulk, that was a really, really cool moment that Hitch sold really well.

As usual, writer Brian Michael Bendis entertains with engaging dialogues between the key characters. From Hawkeye's frustration to Taskmaster's hilarity, the plot was never bogged down by uninteresting conversations or cringeworthy comments. Additionally, he's slowly expanding this mostly desolate world's cast of characters. Last issue, we chimed in on the duo of Moon Knight and Black Widow (who are sadly nowhere to be found in this one) and now we cut to Chicago where Red Hulk, Taskmaster and Black Panther are undergoing an operation of their own. Bendis doesn't feed us too many details here -- we just get one element of their plan and it mostly feels like an excuse to toss some more action in the issue. That's certainly not a bad thing, though, and picked up the pace after Captain America's meeting with the other survivors. Seeing Rulk smash was a treat and the following destruction was quite fun, too.

The Bad

It's seriously game over for Black Panther just like that? It's a painful panel (the scene was hindered for me with too many panels, though), but really, just one landing and it's game over for the dude? Not going to lie, it's disappointing to me because it would be great to see how a character as intelligent and talented as T'Challa is reacting in this world -- especially if his group eventually meets up with Storm and the others. Oh well, see you never, AoU Black Panther. Also, I thought it was humorous how they're trying to hide yet they have a massive red brute standing out in the open.

Luke's final remark felt unnecessary. I always find it amusing when characters mutter these things to themselves, especially when explanation isn't needed. Still, that minor complaint is quickly forgotten with the next page.

The Verdict

Oh my, Bendis has gone all M. Night Shyamalan on us with that ending -- Sixth Sense M. Night, not The Village M. Night, that is. The overall narrative has been taking baby steps up until now. We're hit with a huge and most definitely intriguing reveal. At this point we already have plenty of characters with legitimately interesting stories established, so here's hoping Bendis decides to move forward with the key plots instead of introducing more and more elements. As someone who has been mostly disappointed with Marvel's last few events, I can say I'm honestly enjoying this one.

If not for the great dialogue from Bendis this series would be dragging a bit. Hitch does a lot of panels and I wonder if that the reason were are at issue 3 instead of 2. Doesn't matter tho. His art is always stellar so it's a treat when we get to see his "widescreen" art or what ever the hell it's called. I've read the issue but I wonder if people are not going to be pissed because there is a spoiler in here revealing the death of Panther. I thought his suit would protect him from his neck being able to just snap like that. It save him from jumping to the ground from rooftops to his feet but he lands awkward and he's done???? Oh well. It made the story that much more personal seeing him die and came across pretty cool when Taskmaster put his down in sadness for a second. Great issue. Great cliff hanger at the end. The way Comicvine spits out 5 stars I'm amazed they only gave it 4 stars. Not that I disagree with the rateing, a 5 start book is classic and this was not a classic. I'd call it a great book and highly recommended but not a classic. check it out tho.

Thinking about it the Vision in the final panel is probably the one torn in half by she hulk in Avengers Disassembled (10 or so years ago). This is most likely why She Hulk was the one to go (from a writing standpoint).

I am kind of waiting for fan backlash when Black Panther dies, however I felt it fit really well, not everyone gets a grand exit, things like this can and should happen, and in the heat of battle it can go unnoticed, and in a way more emotional.

Regarding the Vision reveal, all Ultron creations have the Ultron Imperititve which forces them to rebuild Ultron should he be destroyed. It is possible that Ultron has used a stronger version the Ultron Imperititve to take control of the Vision complete, rather than just a sleeper command.

Question: I know Count Nefaria was looking for an Ultron head in Moon Knight but I dropped the series before I found out why. What was up with that? Any possible tie-in to this event? I think that was the most recent comic featuring Ultron before this.